Sell Skills; Deliver Results

by Dale Davidson

Most government contractor job descriptions list skill and experience requirements.

  • 10 years of work experience
  • 5 years of SQL
  • 3 years of budget or financial management experience
  • Expert level Python developer
  • Familiar with Node.JS

If you have the listed skills, a recruiter or PM will be interested in talking to you.

But what the client cares about is results.

They do not care at all what skills or experience you have.

Side Note: If you're not delivering results, they will check your resume against the requirements and if they don't meet the requirements will get you fired

This means you can take liberties with what tools and techniques you use to deliver the results.

I had a client that wanted to deliver a certain Powerpoint faster and more frequently.

There were a number of ways I could accomplish this:

  • Rush and try to copy and paste as fast I could
  • Automate the most tedious part of the process in Excel
  • Replace the the PPT with a Tableau dashboard

I tried the first option and got tangled in my mouse cable.

I followed up with the second and third option. Both achieved the goal.

If you can consistently deliver results to your clients, the tools/skils/experience you use become irrelevant.

Want the full playbook? Check out Going 1099.

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